Neighbors mourn as few details released in Brownwood child's death

BROWNWOOD, Texas - A 4-year-old girl was shot and killed in her family's home Sunday night in what police are calling a "horrible tragedy."

In a news release, Brownwood Assistant Police Chief James Fuller said the shooting happened around 8:15 p.m. in the 500 block of Parkway Drive.

Brownwood Police Chief Mike Corley has confirmed an adult family member was cleaning a semi-automatic handgun that discharged. Police aren't confirming the family's name, but neighbors say the killed child was Gracie Morin.

Corley said the bullet that killed the 4-year-old girl passed through a bedroom wall and struck the girl in the living room after the gun discharged. He said several people were in the home at the time of the shooting.

Police do not think it's going to be more than a "tragic accident," but officers still continue to investigate.

Corley said two officers went to the autopsy in Fort Worth.

On Monday, the day after the shooting, the police tape was gone, children's bicycles laid across several yards, and a neighborhood still grieves.

"Things like that happen and you don't know why," said neighbor Oscar Emison.

"We were really sad to hear about the little girl," said Emison.

"The little girl had a lot of friends on this block. There's a lot of kids that played with her, and she's such a darling," said neighbor Linda Emison.

Linda Emison was outside during the shooting.

"I saw the police cars and Dillon, the little boy that lives there, [he] was all excited about his sister, and I saw the ambulance come and take her away," she said.

The Emisons know the Morin family well, and describe them as sweet, loving, and caring.

"I know anything that happened was definitely an accident, and it's horrible, and it's going to be hard for them to get through [it]. It's going to be hard for the neighbors to get through it," Linda Emison said.

The child-filled, Parkway Drive neighborhood was still and somber Monday.